When you remotely erase a device, Activation Lock remains on to protect it. Your Apple ID and password are required to reactivate the device.

Important: Before you erase your device, try to locate it or play a sound on it. After you erase it, you can’t use Find My iPhone to do either. You can still locate your Mac or Apple Watch if it’s near a previously used Wi-Fi network.

Erase your device or a family member’s device

Click All Devices, then select the device you want to erase.

In the device’s Info window, click Erase [device].

To erase:

An iOS device or Apple Watch: Enter your Apple ID password or your family member’s Apple ID password. If you’re not using a trusted browser, answer your security questions or enter the verification code that is sent to your other devices. If you’re using your own computer and want to skip the verification step in the future, click Trust. If you’re using a friend’s computer, click Don’t Trust. If the device you’re erasing has iOS 8 or later, enter a phone number and message.

A Mac: Enter your Apple ID password or your family member’s Apple ID password. If you’re not using a trusted browser, answer your security questions or enter the verification code that is sent to your other devices. If you’re using your own computer and want to skip the verification step in the future, click Trust. If you’re using a friend’s computer, click Don’t Trust. Enter a passcode to lock the Mac (you need to use the passcode to unlock it), then enter a message.

You can also use a different iOS device to erase your missing device. For more information, open Find My iPhone, tap Help, then go to “Erase your device.”

After you set a device to erase

If your device is online, the remote erase begins. A confirmation email is sent to your Apple ID email address.

If your device is offline, the remote erase begins the next time it’s online.

If you erase then find your iOS device, you can restore the information on the device using iCloud Backup (if backup was turned on before you erased it) or iTunes. For more information, see iCloud storage and backup overview, or the “Safety, handling, and support” section of the iOS user guide for iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. For a device that doesn’t use the latest iOS version, get the user guide for iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from the Apple Support manuals website.

If you erase then find your Apple Watch, you can restore the information on it. For more information, see Restore Apple Watch from a backup in the Apple Watch User Guide.

If you erase then find your Mac, you can restore the information on the Mac using a Time Machine backup, if you have one. For more information, see the Apple Support article How to use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac. If you set an EFI firmware password on your Mac before it was lost, then erase it and later find it, you may need to take your Mac to an authorized repair center to unlock it before you can use it again.